


a new path

by sun mei (alineppenhallow)



Category: Z Nation (TV)
Genre: Canon Compliant, Drabble, F/F, Forehead Touching, Introspection, Pre-Relationship, Spoilers for Episode: S03E15 Everybody dies in the end, Tumblr Prompt
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-08-09
Updated: 2017-08-09
Packaged: 2018-12-13 05:37:18
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 857
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11753157
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/alineppenhallow/pseuds/sun%20mei
Summary: Warren let herself breathe in the possibilities.





	a new path

**Author's Note:**

> a great many thanks to @ladymatt for looking over this despite it not being one of her fandoms!! she's the best!!

The car pulled to a stop close to the coordinates Kaya had given them and Warren eyed the looming cliff face over the tree line.

Through the tree’s was their enemy and an innocent girl caught up in something she never should have had to face. But that was an antiquated thought in the apocalypse. No one was without scars anymore, nobody untouched, survival had given them all calluses.

Some more than others.

Murphy left the car quickly, eager to move forward and no doubt more than a little nervous about being so far from the safety of his compound. Warren hung back a brief moment. Taking a breath to calm herself, regain some composure.

Not to prepare for the fight ahead. She was already set for that. Too prepared in fact. She had to hold herself back from it. Remember that she had a group who relied on her, that she couldn’t turn into a berserker.

Not yet anyway. One day soon, she knew. Warren could feel her resolve breaking like a spiderweb of cracks in a glass. Her humanity, she’d clung to it for so long, her muscles ached from it. Now it was slipping through her grasp and Warren wasn’t sure if she wanted to hold onto something that fractured, that broken.

Warren left the car before she could get lost in her own thoughts. She took two steps towards the cliff face before stopping. Reminding herself that there was more to this than the mission. She turned around and walked to the second car to check on 10K, angry at herself for forgetting the youngest and most vulnerable of their group even for a second.  

Sun was already out of the car, hovering over 10K in the backseat. She looked up at the approach and Warren noticed how drawn she looked, exhausted even.

“How is he?” Warren asked rubbing a hand over her jaw, already knowing the answer wasn’t a positive one.

“Not good,” Sun stated quietly, drawing Warren away from the car and Red’s pleading gaze, “he’s getting worse.”

Warren put her hands on her hips, cursing the same universe she’d been cursing since day one of the apocalypse. Another loss would break her completely. Or maybe she’d hold on a little longer. She honestly wasn’t sure anymore. Everything felt fluid, even her own stability.

“Maybe theres supplies inside,” Warren suggested and Sun frowned at her making her realise the words were too quick to be seen as concern for 10K. She did care for the kid, more than she should given her history of grief.

“Maybe,” Sun allowed reluctantly.

Warren looked down, feeling momentarily chastised. But they had a mission to focus on and the moment passed. Quicker than Warren was comfortable admitting. She was becoming more ruthless and she wondered when that had stopped bothering her.

“Let’s go then,” Warren said, avoiding eye contact. She turned to collect her weapons from the front car when Sun grabbed her arm.

“Be careful…” Sun pleaded quietly, her grip on Warren’s arm firm but not… unwelcome.

Warren moved into Sun’s personal space, staring her down but not as an act of dominance. More questioning. Sun lowered her eyes as her thumb gently caressed the inside of Warren’s elbow, such a soft action in comparison to the hard reality around them. Warren took a deep breath as she put two and two together. Realising what Sun felt…what she felt too as a matter of fact. The draw like colliding galaxies, a beautiful bright swirl of twirling mayhem just on the cusp of happening.

It was a dangerous feeling that Warren had felt three times before and there were three grave markers involved too. The last thing she wanted was to repeat history. To add a fourth grave, to lose yet another love.   

Warren leant her forehead against Sun’s. They shared a few deep breaths together, eyes closed as their worlds narrowed to one another. Warren let herself have this moment, let herself breathe in the possibilities.

Warren nuzzled her face softly against Sun’s, like a cat showing her affection the action reflected how close to the edge Warren was coming. The line between human and enders growing thinner for her, dangerously so.

She didn’t answer Sun, didn’t make her any empty promises she had no intention of keeping. Sun didn’t demand it, even though there was hope in the way she squeezed Warren’s arm. A future beyond the next hour or two, an almost impossible dream.

Warren leaned back, her eyes dark with determination and Sun looked sad for a moment, before it was pushed back in favour of that same determination.

The mission was what mattered now.

Whatever this was could wait until after…if there was an after. Warren wasn’t sure there would be and a part of her wanted to say something, to acknowledge it even just for a moment but she could almost feel the reaper’s breath on the back of her neck, waiting for her to condemn another to their grave. Instead she turned away, heading for the cliff face that now felt like a tall granite headstone.

**Author's Note:**

> [Tumblr](https://alineppenhallow.tumblr.com) & [Twitter](https://twitter.com/alineppenhallow)  
> 


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